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Octagon and Lifebouy

Just curious, has anyone ever shaved with either of these two soaps? They still make Octagon, but it is hard to come by. I read on Wikipedia that Unilever still makes Lifebouy in Cypress.

I remember Octagon as a child. If all else failed, we had to use that for personal hygiene, laundry, washing the dog, getting rid of poison ivy, the list goes one. However, I have never heard of any one shaving with it.

It is a lye based soap isn't? My guess is that it would not go over too well on the face, but I would like to hear about anyone's experience with the soaps.

I actually saw some Colgate's Octagon soap at a local grocery store, but was unsure if it was suitable to shower with as the label had all sorts of other uses listed wholly unrelated to body care:

"For removing hard-to-get-out spots from the family wash, Octagon soap is excellent! And - it makes dishwashing quick and easy... because it dissolves grease fast. You'll like it, also, to help keep your stove, cabinets and woodwork sparkling clean."

The Vermont Country Store is a place you can get Lifebuoy soap, as well as a host of other products that have fallen by the wayside.

Lifebuoy was the first bath soap I ever tried shaving with. It was an emergency shave many years back, and I found it made an incredibly weak and drying lather. Lifebuoy is the only soap that my father has used for the last fifty years, and I personally hate the smell of it. It wrecks my skin something awful.

Dave is the one and only person that I know of that has bathed with Octagon regularly and lived to tell about it. Just washing my hands with that stuff is like letting them soak in bleach for an hour or two. Very lye-heavy, and was never intended to use as a daily bath bar. Remember, there was a reason that people a hundred years ago bathed only once or twice a week- anything more and their skin would fall off.

Lifebuoy was the first bath soap I ever tried shaving with. It was an emergency shave many years back, and I found it made an incredibly weak and drying lather. Lifebuoy is the only soap that my father has used for the last fifty years, and I personally hate the smell of it. It wrecks my skin something awful.

Dave is the one and only person that I know of that has bathed with Octagon regularly and lived to tell about it. Just washing my hands with that stuff is like letting them soak in bleach for an hour or two. Very lye-heavy, and was never intended to use as a daily bath bar. Remember, there was a reason that people a hundred years ago bathed only once or twice a week- anything more and their skin would fall off.

. . . He went around back and into the basement because he was hungry. He ate cold beans out of a can and drank some water, and then he saw the small mirror Parker had bought with the razor and the can of lather. He looked at himself and knew he had to take a chance on staying long enough to shave. He shaved, and that made him feel better. . .